The Crusaders played its closest game of the season on Saturday night at Aloha Stadium, holding off Punahou 35-28.

Saint Louis trailed for the first time after giving up a 90-yard touchdown drive on Punahou’s first possession of the game. A blocked punt recovered for a TD and a 66-yard touchdown pass from Hugh Brady to Tamatoa Falatea gave the Buffanblu the lead two more times early in the second quarter.

Saint Louis didn’t take the lead until the first of two touchdown runs by quarterback Jayden de Laura with 8:05 remaining in the third quarter.

de Laura finished with 293 passing yards with Chance Beyer (10 rec., 115 yards) and Roman Wilson (four rec., 142 yards) doing the majority of the work among the Saint Louis receiving corps.

Punahou is the last team to beat Saint Louis — 33-20 on Sept. 29, 2016. The Crusaders have won the last four meetings since by an average score of 19.3 points.

Saint Louis will play Kapolei for just the second time ever on Friday. The Crusaders’ first time on Kapolei’s field will be an opportunity to stretch their winning streak to 20 games. That’s the longest streak at Saint Louis since the Crusaders won 31 in a row from 1995 to ’97.

COMMENTS

TooMeke
September 17, 2018 9:36 am

At least they didn’t drop – I like having a HI team up there…even StL.

My Top 6 this week (no point going past that):

1- St L (undefeated, but showed weaknesses that can be exploited by the right game plan by Puns, Kahuku, or Millz)
2- Puns (Merry Christmas StL! More complete team than Big Red at this point)
3- Kahuku (Coaching needs to get their act together; losing Ah You can’t be understated)
4- Millz (Nice rebound, Big Red’s homecoming next – should be a good one)
5- Campbell (That was a bad loss…but still just one loss. Learn and move on)
6- Kam (Solid, but like coach said – need to realize they can compete with upper teams – mental)

Kapolei and Farrington need to figure out who they’re gonna be and do that. Could still be factors in playoffs…maybe.

positive vibration yeah
September 17, 2018 11:09 am

@TooMeke Most positive comment posted to date. Good job

Northshore
September 17, 2018 12:45 pm

Made a difference when the 12 men (Michael Goshima) wasn’t there on the field although the umpire missed several holding calls on both sides by the offensive line since St Louis and Punahou passed a lot. No alumni should be refereeing when their school is playing. Other than that, Punahou gave St Louis their run for there money.

Notes
September 17, 2018 1:02 pm

Goshima is Cal’s secret weapon and only comes out when St. Louis plays Kahuku.

Stl/Pun/Kam will smash all the other OIA teams it wont even be competitive and we will all be wondering how this inter league play helps the OIA teams.

Farney
September 17, 2018 1:58 pm

StL..could care less about national ranking. There, they played the top teams of Hawaii. Maybe a win in the States might push them up one spot. The other teams in the nation are playing top 20 teams, so this is the highest. They need 3 trips a year to mainland. That would mean just 50 players and 6 coache’s go. The participation jerseys and window stickers need to be axed.

ALLILH
September 17, 2018 3:10 pm

A team can only play there schedule. That’s why a lot of older posts say the ILH is too weak so you guys cried for them to play the OIA because that’s the superior league. Just because you got more teams doesn’t make you superior. What do I know?

bbwwaahhaahhaahhaa

Good Story
September 17, 2018 4:04 pm

Yup…and you guys the same ones that kept saying that Kahuku lucky they not playing Punahou and Kamehameha…frrrpppp. Different conference same results.

Farney
September 17, 2018 4:42 pm

AL ILH, the $3 million lawyers bribe 3 years ago was for merge. Finally they (ILH) got the Open. Come 2 year trial, all pau. Let Punahou,Kam,StL. pound each other. Add Iolani back and Damin and have a 5 team league. You right, ILH too strong for public school, plus the $$$ part and recruiting cannot match up.

Trustno1
September 17, 2018 6:28 pm

What could’ve , should’ve and would’ve… at the end of the day you have a winner and a loser. Punahou did this and that and should’ve won… It was anybodys game and jus so happens, St. Louis won the game. Punahou played awesome but they jus didn’t do enough to win the game. 2 good teams playing a good game. Don’t get me wrong, St.Louis is beatable! St. Louis have to regroup just like everybody else because in the playoffs anything can happen! Good luck to all the teams this week! 808vsEverybody!

to good times
September 17, 2018 7:06 pm

So, maybe only one ILH team to the States might be a good idea after all. The ILH teams all lost to ST. Louis. But, now they will cheer for the OIA teams to beat St. Louis so they have a shot to be the ILH team to the States. Ahh…bonding.

Mike
September 17, 2018 7:11 pm

Mililani got back on track ain’t going to be easy playing kahuku at kahuku hopefully there going be healthy that why this schedule is hard no rest every week you got to be ready Campbell need to put that lost behind and move on good luck to every school and hope nobody get hurt

to good times
September 17, 2018 7:36 pm

6 ALLILH
I think you are correct. I think I do recall some older posts saying that the ILH is too weak to play the OIA. Wasn’t that back when Kahuku was blasting the other teams by 50 points game after game? I think that’s what some RRFL fans are missing, want back and, as a result, why they complain so much…ILH based officiating, ILH agenda, travel time to Aloha Stadium, recruiting, (heck) their own coaching staff, worse home field on the island, lack of jobs on the north shore, cannot eat plate lunch with the family in the parking lot before games at Aloha Stadium. What else, now?

Hammer
September 17, 2018 8:09 pm

I think this league is a good idea only because kahuku mililani can’t be playing the aiea castles and other teams like that that’s how players get hurt and no competitions you don’t get better especially with the OIA rule you can go to any school you choose so if you not that good go to a school that’s set right for you

Kamehameha #!
September 18, 2018 5:19 am

Home field make a lot of difference too. No way Punahou would have lost to Kahuku if they were playing in Neutral field. No way Kamehameha would lost to Campbell or Mililani too. Give this format a couple years and will see what happens. But, I can tell you this, If Tuitele was playing from the beginning, Punahou’s offense would not have been able to distribute the ball like they did.

LetsPlay..
September 18, 2018 7:15 am

What would make them move up…?

Hammer
September 18, 2018 8:00 am

The only way st Louis moves up is when the top ten plays each other if not they not moving up if anything there going start to move a little down

To da house
September 18, 2018 8:30 am

Adding to 12
I noticed that #91 and #94 for StL didnt start on on DL but came in for the most part of the game. Was #94 injured too?
I think Pun also had a starting DL out for the game. I didnt see #46 go in at all. Pun also lost a OL in the 4th qtr because of an injury.
So both sides had to deal with injuries that also could have impacted the game.

To da house
September 18, 2018 8:44 am

On a side note, why is Campbell rated so high (top 5?).
Mililani exposed them this past game…..

???
September 18, 2018 8:58 am

Cal Lee is satisfied with state championships because he knows he can’t hang with Bosco, Mater Dei, Della Salle, IMG and other mainland-schools that also recruit!
Facts: Most over rated coach.
Can’t win without recruiting.
Ron Lee is the real coach, just like when he won at Kaiser.
Would love for Cal to Head coach an OIA school and prove us wrong but it will never happen! when he was coaching at Kalani you could see the hurt and frustration on his face so much that he ran back to STL to boost his ego.

hwnstyll
September 18, 2018 9:17 am

Cal Lee not a good coach? Need to slow your roll. Cal will go down as the #1 football coach and maybe any sport in Hawaii history!!!!!!!
Some may not like him but championships dont just happen.
Yes Cal recruits, that means parents and kids trust him, that is also what makes him a good coach. Not man of the year or anything like that, he is the states all time best FOOTBALL COACH.

CynHyn
September 18, 2018 11:14 am

StL. recruits like Alabama. Before 2000, they had 9th graders. Now they actually recruit 11 graders and hold them back 1 year. Some players may only play 1 or 2 years max. The other coaches are pissed. This last episode with Kauahi at Damien took the cake. Klanesky must be pissed. First dE laura then others. Coach K developed DE laura and he bolted. When is recruiting called poaching? Glad the ILH stood it ground.

Notes
September 18, 2018 12:12 pm

Easy to win when you corner the market with all the elite talent. St. Louis has five times more D1 talent then any other team they will play this year.

Realist808
September 18, 2018 4:04 pm

@CynHyn didn’t Delaura transfer last year? I don’t think he played under Coach K. Both him and Kauahi are offensive players. I don’t see Coach K developing anybody on the offensive side, only defensive. As for saying Cal is not a good coach, he’s coaching the best D in the state. Ron and Cal do it together. People need to stop with all the hate on here. Comments should be disabled. ILH or OIA, I just want to see good football.

???
September 18, 2018 9:26 pm

@hwnstyll
If he was the BEST coach he would have won a championship at Kalani !!
It’s easy to win when you have 80-100 players on your team that you choose from around the state every and 20 something WR/SB going against teams with 6 total DB’s and 25-40 players total. Give Iolani coach Cal Lee’s talent and he would be the states best coach too. C’MON?

To da house
September 18, 2018 9:48 pm

#24 ???
Just to be fair, even if you replaced the Lee brother’s with Bill Belichick at Kalani, they still wouldn’t have won a championship.
I’m not trying to put down any school, but in “most” cases, you still need a combination of talent and coaching to win championships.
Just my humble opinion.

???
September 19, 2018 8:19 am

@To da house
Exactly! But if you give Belichick STL roster he would definitely WIN. That’s my whole point about Cal Lee NOT being a coaching God that all the STL alumni making him out to be. Thank you

Shaka Brah
September 19, 2018 10:12 am

C’mon guys…give credit where credit is due. With a consistent track record of success, Cal deserves credit as the head coach, with good coaching around him. There’s a saying that “WITH SUCCESS COMES JEALOUSY AND DETRACTORS.” …so it comes with the turf.

Shaka Brah
September 19, 2018 10:49 am

A major criteria of a good coach, besides understanding the X’s/O’s is the ability to attract good assistant coaches and talented players. Look at Alabama and other top schools where players and asst coaches are knocking on their doors. Likewise academic programs where Harvard, Stanford attracts smart students. Same thing with St Louis, Iolani, Punahou, and a few others, with its outstanding programs. Public schools with its excessive restrictions, whether its $$$, ego’s, policies, or who knows, are hampered by layers of bureacracies, bosses, where if you don’t kow tow, you get fired…like Kahuku every year, Kaiser, etc.

hwnstyll
September 19, 2018 11:26 am

Never said he was a coaching god, just best football coach, and I base that on championships won. Recruiting is part of coaching, that is why Mililani and now Campbell are relevant.
It is true that at STL there are more kids held back a year or two in some cases for just sports reasons then any other school by far, but that is a family decision, if rules allow it then it is what it is. Don’t hate the player hate the game. Best D in the State, we will see. Most dominant player in the state Tuitele, I think so.

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